2012-12-10, 09:29 | Link #61 |
lost ronin
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: in the recesses of my convoluted mind...
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i know what you mean. kenshin in battousai mode is stiff, expressionless and emo. takeru's typical acting is very similar to that. lol but takeru can't pull off kenshin in his usual cheery and cute self. i can probably think of other actors who could do both sides of kenshin's personality, it's just too bad they went with takeru. i heard he's quite popular in japan so maybe that's partly the reason why they chose him. he's also quite famous in my country judging from the amount of fangirls who screamed, gushed and giggled every time he appeared onscreen.
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2013-01-01, 13:45 | Link #63 |
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Join Date: May 2004
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I have no preconceptions about the actors because I don't watch Japanese cinema or TV. With that view, the casting was surprising apt. I wouldn't mind if Kenshin had a kinder look on his face sometimes but he had the two sides of Kenshin. Perhaps I'm used to Kyoto Arc and onwards Kaoru but I felt she was good except the movie also had to put emphasis on Megumi (alas poor Megumi, I was never much of your fan). Sanosuke was more comic relief than I had hoped for but his straight-forwardness remained. Yahiko will need a second movie =(.
If there's anything to complain about the movie for me, it would be that 2:15 is a really small amount of time. Hence while they couldn't remove Kenshin vs Sanosuke, they ended up removing _why_ Sanosuke fought Kenshin with a simple placeholder reason instead which then makes his reason to stay with the group more flimsier. Actually a very small thing so I can see why they'd do things like that all over since the things I know about the characters can't be packed into the movie. It's also good that it was directed more like a regular movie as opposed to a "comic book adaptation". I admit that I was taken back a bit at first because my Kenshin fan heart had wanted him to be absolutely crushing his opponents in the exaggerated manner of the manga but it's much better this way since Rurouni Kenshin also had a nice serious story that can stand without heavy visual gimmicks. For me, Rurouni Kenshin (2012) was a good start and I'm truly anticipating the subsequent movies. |
2013-01-01, 14:19 | Link #64 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Forgot I saw this on the plane to Japan and really enjoyed it. Thought the casting of Saitou, Megumi, Kaoru, and especially Kenshin was spot on.
I wasn't as keen on how they introduced Sano & Yahiko. Obviously they are important characters but I don't think anyone new to the franchise would realize this. And although I was sorry to lose Aoshi, I think they tied the first arc into a cohesive narrative pretty well. That being said while I enjoyed the movie as a fan, I made my friend (unfamiliar with Kenshin) watch the movie and he said the only thing he got out of it was "killing is bad". I thought that was simplifying it but then my friend said I just thought this because I am familiar with the series. So that made me think maybe it's not good for someone new to the series. Of course this is just one non-fan perspective. But as someone who is a long time Kenshin fan I really enjoyed it.
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2013-01-01, 14:25 | Link #65 |
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Join Date: May 2004
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Well the first bit of Kenshin still didn't hammer home as hard the themes as Kyoto and Jinchuu did.
I agree that the killing nature Kenshin is fighting against wasn't brought to the forefront strongly enough even against Jineh and part of that is because of the Kanryuu A-plot of the movie. Still, I believe it's something that can be picked up on with a subsequent viewing (lots of movies are good in this way). |
2013-01-05, 01:01 | Link #67 |
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NYC
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The movie has Saito but no Aoshi? That makes me sad. I mean don't get me wrong I'm very happy to see Saito, but story wise it doesn't make sense considering the movie seems to cover mostly Tokyo arc stories.
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2013-01-12, 05:06 | Link #68 |
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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Just finished watching the movie. The scriptwriter is a genius to be able to take pretty much all the arcs up to the Megumi arc and combine it into a movie without it feeling overloaded. The shuffling of events is genius, especially how the Jinie arc got moved and combined. It's also good that they kept the special moves. The movie versions are REALLY cool and still look mostly realistic while keeping their flavor from the manga.
Sanosuke's and Yahiko's backstories got cut though, but I guess Yahiko's is not particularly important and Sanosuke's could be written into the sequel. The main problem is Aoshi got completely cut. I guess they could still work him into the sequel but it'd be much harder since most of his motivations for wanting to kill Kenshin wouldn't be there anymore. |
2013-01-12, 06:53 | Link #69 | |
This is my title.
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Philippines
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Quote:
Anyway, after the movie I went to the restroom to empty my bladder. A bunch of girls were in there fixing their make-up and all. One of them commented, "I really don't get my boyfriend..." to which another replied, "Yeah! My boyfriend's joy and excitement is so shallow!" Lol. I bet these were the same comments their boyfriends made when they were forced to watch Breaking Dawn with them. It was just amusing.
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2013-01-12, 07:53 | Link #70 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philippines
Age: 47
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Quote:
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2013-01-12, 15:34 | Link #74 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2004
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I recall that Kenshin was in fact popular across the different demographics despite being shounen.
There was this blurb from the author apologizing for Hiko Seijurou's super muscled build betraying the female fans' expectations (from Hiko's pretty face haha) too! |
2013-01-12, 15:54 | Link #76 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2004
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Thing is, the first bit of Kenshin really isn't _that_ interesting regardless of who you are. Especially to an audience over a decade later who have been inundated with media (as in movies and books, not the news).
The Kyoto Arc is the where the themes really crystallize and Jinchuu (it's a shame it never got animated) is the closure for our hero. |
2013-01-12, 16:03 | Link #77 |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Well I like the first arc of Kenshin but you are right in terms of storytelling it's the weakest of the 3 arcs. It's mainly made up of a bunch of mini stories.
There are certain stories I really like in the first arc. I love both Yahiko and especially Sano's introduction (and I am sorry the film didn't reflect this better). I also like how Kenshin finds initial acceptance with Kaoru (this is something the film does reflect well). But my favorite part of the Meiji arc is the concept of Aoshi not wanting to leave behind the Oniwabanshu who could not find a place in the new era (the film kind of covers this in other ways, but it mentions the plight of the samurai only in passing). Another thing I think the film did well was show the connection between Megumi & Kenshin (although the film never explicitly states that Megumi wants to become a doctor to atone). Thinking about it I guess it would be hard for new people to get what Kenshin was about from the first film as perhaps it didn't present what the story was about very well. I still felt it did a great job of creating one narrative out of many smaller stories in the first arc and re-creating the characters in a realistic way. So overall as a fan I still feel the first film was a success. The Kyoto arc is more interesting narratively speaking but I wonder how the film will pull off Shisio and especially characters like Soujiro. And will they leave Aoshi out again? That would be a shame.
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2013-03-04, 09:03 | Link #78 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philippines
Age: 47
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DVD (and possibly BR) to be released soon in my country -- through a local record chain called Odyssey.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...2647142&type=1
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2013-06-02, 02:35 | Link #79 |
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Join Date: Jul 2012
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I think they wasted a good opportunity to show the otakus in the west how a good Japanese movie really looks like. I'm pretty sure many of them think that the Japanese doesn't really know how to make a movie and can't act just because of their shitty live-action adaptations.
When you have films like Twilight Samurai, Seppuku, Sword Of Doom, Seven Samurai and Ran in your fucking cinema history something like Rurouni Kenshin is inexcusable. I think Samurai X has the potential for a really good film, something really awesome and the OVA showed that. I love twilight Samurai a lot and this was the perfect tone for Rurouni Kenshin. In Twilight Samurai the characters feel real and that's the reason why you care about Seibei Iguchi when he is in a fight, it had good acting. Even an action movie like Miike's 13 Assassins had better acting in it than Rurouni Kenshin, Kôji Yakusho is a brilliant actor and he was the lead in that movie. Last edited by ElCachicamo; 2013-06-02 at 03:04. |
2013-06-02, 04:44 | Link #80 |
( ಠ_ಠ)
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere, between the sacred silence and sleep
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You're sour because it didn't feel like a classic samurai movie.
Nope, instead, it felt like an adaptation of a comic book. Maybe because, oh I dunno, it is. And a good adaptation. Rurouni Kenshin was never even supposed to be a Kurosawa film, nor should it be. And this is coming from an old-timer who owns Kurosawa films on Laser discs, and love it. Spoiler:
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